The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1887-09-06
TERRIBLE PANIC.
Blood. Curdiing Scenes Mt n Now York Teno.
~. Mant IIolsa Eirc. N ~

mGnt House Fire.
NEw YoRx, Sept. 5.-The cry Of fire
was raised about one o'clock this morning
in Fittleth street, between Tonth and
Eleventh avenues. 'l1%9'a"I, !a
1T wes no sooner reported than gcene
Of tho wildcat excitement and panic en-.
sued. a.9 .g r.
The block Is filed with teasm ent houses
on both sides of the street. TIE fire was
in the tivo.story double.deCker, No. 52o,
which, with four others adjoining 1t, are
owned by 1fcaars. Potter Bros. The build
ings arc Of brick and have about seventy.
tive ieet depth, four families living on
each floor. In the basement are wood
houses and coal binb. ytT.G,. VI
Tho fire apparently started in ono Of tho
wood houses, shot up through tho air
shett, burned ito way toward the stairway
and spread Its force in tho upper stories.
Luckily several apartments in tho house
had not been occupied recently, and there
wera only eleven families living there.
They were panic stricken. They had to
find tholr way through the smoke, men
carrying women and. children with their
armS lull Of clothing and household arti.
clea. 1i4T&siINM 30 :.
A panic equally as great occurred in the
houses Nos. SIS and $50 when there really
was no danger. To add to the horror the
gas was turned of, and as in the excite
nent no light could DO had, the people,
frantic in their efforts to escape, fell over
and tfampled upon one another, and in
the dark there WAS struggling, sur9iag
mas Of humanity. The scene that was
enacted beggarH description. Police Off.
Ger Brophy had gone to the top floor leay-
ing Officer Haggerty on the third, where
he was assisting little girl TO get out.
He helped her down the stairs and lust
then the hsmea appeared on the third
floor and cut OF his Escape. His right
hand wss severely burned. He rushed to
the top story and got out on the roof with
Officer Brophy. They climbed down to
the adjoipin9roof and came down through
that building.
~ s THRILLING SCENES. y
The escspe OF the people in the burned
building wss most fortunate. These on
the fire.. floor got out without any trouble
and those Oh tho upper floors loft by way
OF the fire eEcapes.s Some of them went
up the ROOF md escaped to the adjoining
building, and few managed to get down
stairs through the smoke and advancing
lames. The Grcmen sided CALAMITY in
the eecspo CT the Inmates. The flames
shot up the stairway and ats their way 10
the front Of tll5 building, then rapidly
shot out on ell hides, through the wiz
dows and tho roof. F3"NS.
James Harmon jumped from the roof OF
5lS to the roof Of GIG and had his leg bro
ken. A man named Dowd fol! in the
atrecs and cut hia head. A little girl was
left on the balcony Of the top STORY Of 5lS,
but was rescued by a fireman. Fireman
McNamara and some others were in the
third story when q huge tank crashed
through the roof. Thsy had narrow IS.
capo from beiJg killed. 1t fell within
few feet OF them and two Of the men were
etruck by falling timbe.e and bricks,
Fireman VIM. Mobiles wac atwork in the
yard when huge pilo Of bricks fell down
from the roof, aimost burying him. He
YES bsdiy bruised about the body. -
The fire burned through the two upper
storiee, badly cutting them. It WAS near.
y : o'clock before IL was gos under con.
troll. 1t wea tumored thst several people
had been burned, and alter the flames had
been extinguished tho fireman made
caretnl eearch OF the burned building but
no bodies were discovered. The occu.
pansa OF the burned building lost every.
thing they posseseed' and only ono OF
them Bas insured. The ]oss 10 Tho build
ing is about SIC. 900 and that to the occu.
pants will BIS about IS 900. lssIIg4 ,El